Stoppering and regulating device for containers



p 1941- H. M. SALMOND 2236,961

ST GPPERING AND REGULATING DEVICE FOR CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 23, 1939 2Sheets-Sheet l //7 renlar Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNITED STATE. PTE

cries STOPPERIN G AND REGULATIN G DEVICE FOR CONTAINERS Hubert MackenzieSalmond, Fareham, England Application October 23, 1939, Serial No.300,835 In Great Britain February 22, 1939 9 Claims.

ing certain fire extinguishing liquids under gas pressure.

The. principal object of the invention is to provide'animprovedconstruction of stoppering device for containers of the type which arehermetically sealed after charging, such that the heri metio seal may bedestroyed to effect discharge of the fluid con-tents with a minimumdelay, and that after destruction, 2. portion of the device which isbroken OH to destroy the seal is employed for reclosing the containerafter the re- 1.

quired amount of fluid has been discharged.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a stoppering devicewhich may be used to reopen the container after reclosure, and ifnecessary to reclose the container again after further use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stoppering devicewhich consists of a closure plug having a frangible stem portion adaptedto be fractured off to unseal a bore therein for the fluid, andthereafter to be forced into the opened bore to reclose the container.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a stoppering deviceconsisting of a closure plug having a frangible portion of such a naturethat it may be fractured off to unseal a bore in the plug, therebyforming a crater at the end of the bore into which the fractured offportion may be forced to reclose the container.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a closure. plugforming a stoppering dev-ice,which ,plug is formed with a frangible stemportion which after fracture from the plug to unseal aboretherein fortheliquid, may be forced into the opened bore to reclose the container.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description of a preferred constructional form ofstoppering device according to the invention, read in conjunction withthe annexed drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of a container forfire extinguishing liquid equipped with the stoppering device.

Figure 2 is an enlarged View of the st-oppering device in cross-sectionshown in Figure 1, and showing the stoppering device before fracture.

Figure3 is asimilar view to Figure 2, but shows the stoppering deviceafter fracture and during opening of the container and Figure 4 isanother view similar to Figure 2,

but showing the 'stoppering deviceafter fracture and during subsequentrecl-osure of the container.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a fire extinguishing fluidcontainer I of the solid drawn metal type which is about three-quartersfilled with liquid methyl bromide. The container is then charged withnitrogen or other inert gas to a pressure of about 60 pounds per squareinch and sealed. For this purpose, the neck of the container isscrew-threaded externally to I accommodate a closure cap 2 having acentral boss 3 (Figure 2) thereon which has a concentric passagewaytherethrough for sealing by a closure plug 4.

In order to seal the passageway hermetically, it is formed at its upperend with a concentric recess 5 formed with an inverted V-sectioned base0 forming a circular, ridge on which is placed a suitable washer I. Theplug 4 is formed with a corresponding flange 8 having a V-sectioned rimdepending therefrom which engages the upper side of the washer l andforms therewith a fluid-tight joint when the plug is screwed into theboss 3.

The'plug l is of hexagonal cross-section, and is recessed about mid-wayalong its unscrewed portion by a circumferential groove of somewhatV-section, so as to provide a short cylindrical stem 9. The lowerportion of the plug is bored from the screwed end to within about ten tofifteen thousandths of an inch from the lower end of the stem -9, by abore E0 of about a e" to A in diameter, which is about the same diameteror slightly larger than the stem 9. However the stem 9 may fit into thebore 10 by what is known as a force fit and in this case the stem 9 isabout 0.001 as a maximum to 0.0005" minimum in excess in diameter to thebore Hi. In practice it is desired to make the stem 9 about the same orslightly lessthan the bore [0 so that the sealing is formed between theconical portion of the fractured off portion of part 4 and the point offracture 23, somewhat as shown in Fig. 4, and owing to the pressure withwhich the .parts are forced together a smooth conical seating is formedat 28 which forms a very efiective and liquid-tight seal. It isfurthermore a fact that the material at the lower portion of part 4 isforced into contact with stem 9 owing to the deformation of the materialat 28 so as to virtually seal the parts together again to the extentthat if parts 23, 25 and 21 are removed from the extinguisher thefractured off portion of part 4 will remain securely locked in the fixedportion of this part.

The open end of the bore I is enlarged to accommodate one end of adelivery tube l I, which extends within the container l to near thelower end thereof, and serves to deliver the fluid in the containerunder the pressure of the gas.

The upper or head portion of the plug is bored concentrically, and thebore is screwthreaded with a left handed screw-thread [2 which isengaged by a left-handed screwed portion [3 of an operating spindle [4.

The plug 4 is enclosed within a sleeve member l5, the inner side ofwhich is hexagonal shaped' similar to the external surface of the plug,but somewhat greater in size, so that the parts are easily slidablerelatively to to one another. The sleeve member is provided at its lowerend with a conical flange l6 whereby it is secured on the cap 2 by aunion nut l1 engaging a screw-thread on the external side of the boss 3,a suitable washer [8 being interposed between the bottom end face of thesleeve member and the upper end face of the boss 3.

In the side of the sleeve member, a screwed passageway is provided inwhich is secured a discharge nozzle I9 for the fluid, a suitable washerbeing interposed between the outside of the sleeve member and a flangeon the nozzle pipe.

The upper end of the sleeve member I5 is screw-threaded externally, anda closure cap 2| is screwed thereon with the interposition of a washer22, to form a fluid-tight joint. The cap 2| is formed'with a centralboss 23 which is bored centrally and screw-threaded with a right-handedscrew-thread 24 for engagement by the ight-h'anded screwed portion 25 ofthe operating spindle M in a substantially fluid-tight manner.

The outer end 26 of the operating spindle is squared as shown, and isfitted with an operating handle 2! of a convenient size.

When it is desired to use the fire extinguisher, the nozzle is directedtowards the fire, and the handle 21 is rotated in the anti-clockwisedirection through one half to one complete turn. This rotation causesthe head portion of the plug 4 to be fractured off from the body of theplug at the junction of the bottom end of the stem 9 with the bodyportion, as shown in Figure 3. As the fracture is a sheer fracture, anorifice is formed at the upper end of the bore H] as shown at 28, whilstthe lower end of the broken oiT stem 9 has the form of a punch.

On breakage of the frangible portion of the plug 4, the fluid within thecontainer is enabled to be discharged into the-sleeve member and outthrough the nozzle I9 under full pressure of the gas in the container,so that there is no delay in supplying fire extinguishing liquid.

After sufficient liquid has been delivered from the container toextinguish the fire, and further liquid is not desired, the handle 21may be rotated in a clockwise direction one to two turns. By suchrotation of the handle, the fractured off head with its depending stemis moved towards the body portion of the plug, the punch shaped end 29of the stem 9 ultimately entering the orifice 28 formed at the top ofthe bore II]. On further rotation of the handle, the stem 9 is forcedinto the bore to seal the container, and this movement may be continueduntil the coned upper portion of the head engages the orifice 28 at thetop end of the bore, as shown in Figure 4. Thetop of orifice'23 forms aneffective valve seatmg forthe coned portion of the head, and anefficient fluid-tight joint is made between the body of the plug and thesevered off head-portion thereof, which prevents leakage of fluid fromthe container until the container can be removed for refilling.

If however it is desired to discharge further fluid after reclosure ofthe container, it is only necessary to rotate the handle 21 in ananticlockwise direction to withdraw the stem 9 from the bore II], whenthe liquid in the container will again be discharged from the nozzlepipe I!) under full pressure of the gas in the container. This dischargecan be interrupted when desired by again rotating the handle 21 in theclockwise direction until the stem 9 is again forced into the bore ID,if necessary, to its fullest extent.

When the container is finally returned for refilling, the only partrequiring replacement is the closure plug 4 which has been fractured tounseal the container.

It will be evident that the arrangement hereinbefore described by way ofexample, may be modified within the scope of the invention. Forinstance, instead of enclosing the plug 4 in a sleeve which prevents itsrotation, the interior of the sleeve may be cylindrical in form as alsomay be the exterior of the plug. In such a case, the stem 9, may besevered from the body of the plug by a combination of tension andtorsion forces as the head of the plug may tend to rotate somewhat withthe spindle [4.

In another form, the head portion of the plug may be screw-threaded onthe exterior for engagement by an internally screw-threaded lower end ofthe operating spindle l4, and in yetanother'form, these parts may beconnectedby means of a coarse threaded screw-thread on one part engagedby a pair of diametrically arranged pins on the other part.

Broadly therefore, the invention embraces any suitable means forremoving the stem 9 from the body of the plug 4, and thereafterreclosing the orifice 23 by forcing the stem into the bore 10.

Having thus fully described my inventiomwhat I claim as new and desireto protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug having abore therein extending longitudinally almost through said plug, afrangible stem portion thereon over the inner end of said bore, saidstem having a diameter smaller than said bore, and means for fracturingsaid stem portion 01f said plug to unseal said bore in said plug, andfor thereafter forcing said fractured off stem portion into said bore toreclose said container.

2. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug having abore therein extending longitudinally almost through said plug, afrangible stem portion thereon over the inner end of said bore, saidstem having a diameter smaller than said bore, and means for forcingsaid stem portion axially off said plug in tension to unseal said bore,and for thereafter forcing said fractured 01f stem portion axially intosaid bore to reclose said container.

3. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug, asubstantially circular stem portion at one end of said plug integraltherewith, said plug having a concentric bore extending from the otherend thereof to near said stem portion, said stem being of a sizeslightly smaller than the cross-section of said bore, and means forfracturing said stem from said plug to unseal said plug and thereafterforcing said stem tightly into the said bore unsealed by said fracturingoperation.

4. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug, aconcentric solid stemportion at one end thereof, a concentric bore ofslightly greater cross-section in said plug and extending therein fromthe other end thereof to near the said stem, a frangible portion in saidplug between said stem portion and the inner end of said bore, and meansassociated with said stem adapted on primary operation thereof forciblyto separate said stem portion from said "plug by fracturing saidfrangible portion, thereby extending said bore throughout said plug, andon secondary operation thereof to force said separated stem portion intosaid unsealed bore to reclose said container.

5. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug, aconcentric, solid, cylindrical, integral stem portion at one endthereof, a concentric bore in said plug one thousandth of an inch lessin diameter than the diameter of said stem portion and extending thereinfrom the other end of said plug to within ten thousandths of an inch ofthe root portion of said stem portion, and means associated with saidstem portion for forcibly separating said stem portion from said plug,and for thereafter forcing said separated stem portion into said bore toreclose said container.

6. Stoppering device for containers comprising a closure plug, aconcentric, solid, cylindrical, integral stem portion at one endthereof, a screwthread on said stem, a concentric bore in said plugslightly greater in diameter than the diameter of said stem portion andextending in said plug from the other end thereof to close to the rootportion of said stem portion, means for axially moving said stem portionand for restraining it against rotation, and an internallyscrew-threaded member engaging said screwed portion of said stem portionand mounted for rotation in an abutment fixed relatively to saidcontainer for axially moving said stem portion.

'7. Stoppering device for containers comprising a screw-threaded closureplug, a concentric solid cylindrical integral stem portion at one end ofsaid plug, an enlarged head on said stem, of noncircular cross section,a concentric screw-threaded bore in said head, a concentric bore in saidplug slightly greater in diameter than said stem and extending in saidplug from the other end thereof to near the root portion of said stem, a

sleeve surrounding said plug and head portion and secured relatively tosaid plug, said head portion being slidable in said sleeve member, anabutment at one end of said sleeve, a spindle rotatably mounted in saidabutment and having a screw-threaded end portion engaging saidinternally screwed bore in said head.

8. Stoppering device for containers comprising a screw-threaded closureplug, a concentric integral stem portion at one end of said plug, anenlarged head on said stem of non-circular cross section, a concentricscrew-threaded bore in said head, a concentric bore in said plugslightly greater in diameter than said stem and extending in said plugfrom the other end thereof to near the root portion of said stem, asleeve surrounding said plug and head and secured at one end in afluid-tight manner to said container, the interior of said sleeve beingof similar crosssection to said head but of slightly greater size, aclosure gland at the free end of said sleeve,

a discharge nozzle in the side of said sleeve, a

spindle screwed at one end to engage said screwed bore in said head, andscrewed at its other end in the opposite direction, a screwed bore insaid gland for said oppositely screwed portion of said spindle and ahandle on the exterior endof said spindle.

9. Stoppering device for containers comprising a screw-threaded closureplug, a concentric integral stem portion at the outer end of said plugof inch plus one thousandth of an inch diameter, an enlarged head onsaid stem of hexagonal, cross-section, a concentric screw-threaded borein said head, a concentric bore in said plug of A; inch diameterextending from the inner end of said plug to within ten thousandths ofan inch to the root of said stem, a hexagonal sectioned sleevesurrounding said plug, stem and head, of slightly greater size than saidhead, and secured at one end in a fluid-tight manner to said container,a discharge nozzle pipe in said sleeve, a closure gland at the outer endof said sleeve, a concentric bore in said gland, said bore beingscrew-threaded in the opposite direction to said bore in said head, anoperating spindle screwed at one end to engage said screwed bore in saidhead and at its other end to engage said screwed bore in said gland, anda handle on the external end of said operating spindle.

HUBERT MACKENZIE SALMOND.

